littlemissattitude
Super Moderator
Is good and evil an intrinsic part of creation, as hardwired into the system as, say, the law of gravity of the laws of thermodynamics? Do scientists have a responsibility to make sure their discoveries are not turned to destructive ends by the governments of the nations in which they live and work? Do individuals, in the end, get exactly what they deserve? Is it a good thing or a bad thing to be so single-minded about something that an individual devotes all of his or her time, energy, and passion to it, to the exclusion of everything else? Is anything valuable enough to pursue for its own sake, absent any practical applicability? How many people can fit through a mini black hole - at the same time?
These are just some of the questions addressed, explicitly or implicitly, in Jane Jensen’s “Dante’s Equation,” a fascinating novel of science, religion, espionage in the name of politics, and personal relationships. It isn’t often that you can find a novel that reads like a superior action-adventure, hops through time and universes like hard science fiction, and at the same time addresses a number of issues in different realms in a consistently interesting and understandable way. That’s just what Jensen does here. She starts off with Kabbalah and bible codes, goes on to tie up physics with the problem of the existence of good and evil, throws in a bit of fringe science, looks at how political systems and beliefs can mold people, and creates a fascinating story from this diverse and heady mix. At first, the reader finds him or herself wondering how this book got stuck in the science fiction section of the library - the first section reads very much like a standard political thriller with a bit of physics and religion thrown in. Then the protagonists find themselves suddenly flung to different universes, as different from each other as they all are from the Earth. And suddenly the reader realizes, yes, this is science fiction after all.
This very good novel does not need to stand on plot alone, however. Jensen has created a set of diverse characters who happen to share a single trait, stubborn single-mindedness. Aharon Handalman, a Jerusalem rabbi, is consumed by his study of bible codes, secret messages found in holy scripture, messages he believes to be prophecy. He neglects students, wife, children in his pursuit of these messages from the past. So convinced is he that he has found predictions of the ultimate weapon of mass destruction that he alerts Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency to his discovery. Denton Wyle, as agnostic as the rabbi is religious, is a writer for a supermarket tabloid devoted to stories of the mysterious and the occult. He has stumbled on the story of an escapee from Auschwitz, a rabbi and student of Kabbalah, who is reputed to have disappeared in a flash of light in 1943 outside the walls of the death camp. Wyle has his own reasons, rooted in his troubled childhood, for needing to chase down the truth behind this story. Dr. Jill Talcott, a physicist at an American university, is single-minded in her pursuit of a pet project she first was acquainted with during her graduate studies. She believes in wave mechanics implicitly, even though the scientific establishment she wants so to be a part of dismisses it as bunk. Her devotion to her work has led her to neglect all personal relationships, much to the discouragement of her graduate student, Nate Andros, who is in love with her despite her one-track mind. Calder Farris is just as monomaniacal, and just as divorced from close personal relationships, in his pursuit of scientists like Dr. Talcott. He seeks out lone individuals who work on fringe ideas despite the discouragement of their colleagues, looking for ideas his employers at the Department of Defense might be able to convert to new weapons technologies. How these flawed and realistic individuals react to the situations into which they are thrown, how the situations they find themselves in change them, and how they remain in some ways the same no matter the changes they go through all work to keep the reader turning pages till the very end of the story.
Don’t assume, however, that this is an exclusively serious novel devoid of any comic touches. In one case, as a character is scared out of his wits, his reaction is described this way: “He wanted to sob, scream, run with scissors.” Somehow, that communicates the personality of that character and his terror in that situation perfectly, and with great wit. These sorts of grace notes are sprinkled throughout the book. So are a bumper crop of cultural references, especially within the science fiction and fantasy realms. Clarke’s famous comment about discriminating between technology and magic is there. So is a reference to “The Wizard of Oz,” not to mention references to “Star Trek,” “The Twilight Zone,” and Alvin and the Chipmunks, among others.
This is the sort of book that I will probably read again, there is so much there. I always tend to enjoy books that take several subjects that seem on the surface to be unrelated and weave them into a nearly seamless story, filled with imaginative details, vivid images, and indelible characterizations that stay with me long after I have finished the actual reading of the book. It is also the kind of book that I liked so much that I will seek out the author’s other books based simply on the expert way she told this story. Not bad for a book that I picked up purely by happenstance, knowing nothing about it or its author, on the basis of its title alone. I find that is sometimes the best way to find really good novels. It certainly worked in this case. So, go to the nearest bookstore or library and get this book. And while you are there, browse the shelves and pick up a book or two just because the title grabs your interest, or because the author has an interesting name, or because the cover art is unusual. You never know what new worlds will open up to you this way.
These are just some of the questions addressed, explicitly or implicitly, in Jane Jensen’s “Dante’s Equation,” a fascinating novel of science, religion, espionage in the name of politics, and personal relationships. It isn’t often that you can find a novel that reads like a superior action-adventure, hops through time and universes like hard science fiction, and at the same time addresses a number of issues in different realms in a consistently interesting and understandable way. That’s just what Jensen does here. She starts off with Kabbalah and bible codes, goes on to tie up physics with the problem of the existence of good and evil, throws in a bit of fringe science, looks at how political systems and beliefs can mold people, and creates a fascinating story from this diverse and heady mix. At first, the reader finds him or herself wondering how this book got stuck in the science fiction section of the library - the first section reads very much like a standard political thriller with a bit of physics and religion thrown in. Then the protagonists find themselves suddenly flung to different universes, as different from each other as they all are from the Earth. And suddenly the reader realizes, yes, this is science fiction after all.
This very good novel does not need to stand on plot alone, however. Jensen has created a set of diverse characters who happen to share a single trait, stubborn single-mindedness. Aharon Handalman, a Jerusalem rabbi, is consumed by his study of bible codes, secret messages found in holy scripture, messages he believes to be prophecy. He neglects students, wife, children in his pursuit of these messages from the past. So convinced is he that he has found predictions of the ultimate weapon of mass destruction that he alerts Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency to his discovery. Denton Wyle, as agnostic as the rabbi is religious, is a writer for a supermarket tabloid devoted to stories of the mysterious and the occult. He has stumbled on the story of an escapee from Auschwitz, a rabbi and student of Kabbalah, who is reputed to have disappeared in a flash of light in 1943 outside the walls of the death camp. Wyle has his own reasons, rooted in his troubled childhood, for needing to chase down the truth behind this story. Dr. Jill Talcott, a physicist at an American university, is single-minded in her pursuit of a pet project she first was acquainted with during her graduate studies. She believes in wave mechanics implicitly, even though the scientific establishment she wants so to be a part of dismisses it as bunk. Her devotion to her work has led her to neglect all personal relationships, much to the discouragement of her graduate student, Nate Andros, who is in love with her despite her one-track mind. Calder Farris is just as monomaniacal, and just as divorced from close personal relationships, in his pursuit of scientists like Dr. Talcott. He seeks out lone individuals who work on fringe ideas despite the discouragement of their colleagues, looking for ideas his employers at the Department of Defense might be able to convert to new weapons technologies. How these flawed and realistic individuals react to the situations into which they are thrown, how the situations they find themselves in change them, and how they remain in some ways the same no matter the changes they go through all work to keep the reader turning pages till the very end of the story.
Don’t assume, however, that this is an exclusively serious novel devoid of any comic touches. In one case, as a character is scared out of his wits, his reaction is described this way: “He wanted to sob, scream, run with scissors.” Somehow, that communicates the personality of that character and his terror in that situation perfectly, and with great wit. These sorts of grace notes are sprinkled throughout the book. So are a bumper crop of cultural references, especially within the science fiction and fantasy realms. Clarke’s famous comment about discriminating between technology and magic is there. So is a reference to “The Wizard of Oz,” not to mention references to “Star Trek,” “The Twilight Zone,” and Alvin and the Chipmunks, among others.
This is the sort of book that I will probably read again, there is so much there. I always tend to enjoy books that take several subjects that seem on the surface to be unrelated and weave them into a nearly seamless story, filled with imaginative details, vivid images, and indelible characterizations that stay with me long after I have finished the actual reading of the book. It is also the kind of book that I liked so much that I will seek out the author’s other books based simply on the expert way she told this story. Not bad for a book that I picked up purely by happenstance, knowing nothing about it or its author, on the basis of its title alone. I find that is sometimes the best way to find really good novels. It certainly worked in this case. So, go to the nearest bookstore or library and get this book. And while you are there, browse the shelves and pick up a book or two just because the title grabs your interest, or because the author has an interesting name, or because the cover art is unusual. You never know what new worlds will open up to you this way.
